DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Examiner’s Note
This Office Action is in response to application and preliminary amendment filed on 2/15/2024, where claims 1-21 are canceled, and claims 22-49 are currently pending.
Claims 22-49 are not properly marked with the appropriate status identifier. Claims 22-49 are of original claims and have not been amended. As such, the claims should be marked as “Original”. The applicant is reminded to properly mark all claims in all future correspondence according to rules stated in 37 C.F.R. 1.121(c).
Double Patenting
The nonstatutory double patenting rejection is based on a judicially created doctrine grounded in public policy (a policy reflected in the statute) so as to prevent the unjustified or improper timewise extension of the “right to exclude” granted by a patent and to prevent possible harassment by multiple assignees. A nonstatutory double patenting rejection is appropriate where the conflicting claims are not identical, but at least one examined application claim is not patentably distinct from the reference claim(s) because the examined application claim is either anticipated by, or would have been obvious over, the reference claim(s). See, e.g., In re Berg, 140 F.3d 1428, 46 USPQ2d 1226 (Fed. Cir. 1998); In re Goodman, 11 F.3d 1046, 29 USPQ2d 2010 (Fed. Cir. 1993); In re Longi, 759 F.2d 887, 225 USPQ 645 (Fed. Cir. 1985); In re Van Ornum, 686 F.2d 937, 214 USPQ 761 (CCPA 1982); In re Vogel, 422 F.2d 438, 164 USPQ 619 (CCPA 1970); In re Thorington, 418 F.2d 528, 163 USPQ 644 (CCPA 1969).
A timely filed terminal disclaimer in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(c) or 1.321(d) may be used to overcome an actual or provisional rejection based on nonstatutory double patenting provided the reference application or patent either is shown to be commonly owned with the examined application, or claims an invention made as a result of activities undertaken within the scope of a joint research agreement. See MPEP § 717.02 for applications subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA as explained in MPEP § 2159. See MPEP §§ 706.02(l)(1) - 706.02(l)(3) for applications not subject to examination under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA . A terminal disclaimer must be signed in compliance with 37 CFR 1.321(b).
The USPTO Internet website contains terminal disclaimer forms which may be used. Please visit www.uspto.gov/patent/patents-forms. The filing date of the application in which the form is filed determines what form (e.g., PTO/SB/25, PTO/SB/26, PTO/AIA /25, or PTO/AIA /26) should be used. A web-based eTerminal Disclaimer may be filled out completely online using web-screens. An eTerminal Disclaimer that meets all requirements is auto-processed and approved immediately upon submission. For more information about eTerminal Disclaimers, refer to www.uspto.gov/patents/process/file/efs/guidance/eTD-info-I.jsp.
Claim 32 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 1 of the US Patent No. 11,936,489 (hereinafter the ‘489 Patent). Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because both claim 32 of the instant application and claim 1 of the ‘489 Patent are disclosing establishing connection with refrigeration appliance(s) on a network, identify an event occurred in a specific region, determine a subset of refrigeration appliance, and send change control parameter command to the subset of refrigeration appliance. Claim 32 of the instant application is broader in scope than the corresponding claim of the ‘489 Patent. As such, the claims are obvious variation of each other.
Claims 33-38 of the instant application are also rejected under non-statutory obviousness type double patenting over claims 2-4, 7, 8, and 10 respectively of the ‘489 Patent, as the claims of the instant application disclose substantially similar limitations as the corresponding claims of the ‘489 Patent.
Claim 39 is rejected on the ground of nonstatutory double patenting as being unpatentable over claim 11 of the ‘489 Patent. Although the claims at issue are not identical, they are not patentably distinct from each other because both claim 39 of the instant application and claim 11 of the ‘489 Patent are disclosing establishing connection with refrigeration appliance(s) on a network, store location of the refrigeration appliances in memory, receive operating data, and evaluating the operating data. Claim 39 of the instant application is broader in scope than the corresponding claim of the ‘489 Patent. As such, the claims are obvious variation of each other.
Claims 40-48 of the instant application are also rejected under non-statutory obviousness type double patenting over claims 11 and 13-20 respectively of the ‘489 Patent, as the claims of the instant application disclose substantially similar limitations as the corresponding claims of the ‘489 Patent.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(B) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claims 30 and 31 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor, or for pre-AIA the applicant regards as the invention.
Claims 30 and 31 are rejected to because of the following: claim 30 depends on a cancelled claim, i.e., claim 19, which make the current dependency structure unclear. Appropriate correction is required.
Claim 31 is rejected to as having the same deficiencies as the claim it depends from.
Claims 30 and 31 are rejected to because of the following: claim 30 recites the elements “the network interface”, “the remote asset management server”, and “said information about the location”. Each of the elements above is recited with the article “the” or “said”, which indicates it is referring to a previous element of the same corresponding name. However, in each instance, there is no prior corresponding element of the same name. Therefore, it is unclear to one of ordinary skill in the art which elements they are referring to. As such, renders the claim indefinite.
Claim 31 is rejected to as having the same deficiencies as the claim it depends from.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 22-24 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Zhao et al., (CN 105066576 A) (hereinafter Zhao).
Referring to claim 22, Zhao teaches a refrigeration appliance configured to connect to a remote asset management server which interacts with a plurality of refrigeration appliances in a geographic area, the refrigeration appliance comprising:
a local controller (Pg. 6, lines 15-24, control device 200) configured for selectively controlling the refrigeration appliance;
a GPS receiver (Pg. 6 lines 15-24, location obtaining module 210) connected to the local controller for providing a GPS location signal to the local controller from which a geographic location of the refrigeration appliance can be determined (Pg. 6 lines 26-28, “a position obtaining module 210 obtaining the refrigerator mounting position information. acquiring the installation position information”);
a network interface (Pg. 6 lines 15-24, mode query module 220 and mode receiving module 230) configured to provide communication between the local controller and the remote asset management server (Pg. 6 lines 67-68, “mode query module 220 is configured to send the operation mode inquiry request to the cloud server”. Pg. 7 lines 14-17, “mode receiving module 230 can be configured to receive cloud server 130. The query request matching one or more sets of recommended running mode for the refrigerator of the user selection.”);
wherein the local controller is configured to send information about the GPS location signal to the remote asset management server via the network interface (Pg. 6 lines 67-70, “mode query module 220 is configured to send the operation mode inquiry request to the cloud server according to the installation place information.”); and
wherein the local controller is configured receive, from the remote asset management server, via the network interface, a change control parameter command, based on said information about the GPS location signal, sent to refrigeration appliances in a specified region of the geographic area (Pg. 7 lines 14-17, “mode receiving module 230 can be configured to receive cloud server 130. The query request matching one or more sets of recommended running mode for the refrigerator of the user selection.”),
wherein in response to receiving the change control parameter command, the local controller is configured to change a control parameter by which the local controller controls the refrigeration appliance (Pg. 5 lines 65-69, “multiple control parameters of each set of refrigerator comprises refrigerator in running mode, such as set temperature and set humidity, defrosting condition, refrigeration power, freezing condition room of refrigerator 110”).
Referring to claim 23, Zhao further teaches a refrigeration appliance as set forth in claim 22, wherein the local controller is configured to selectively operate the refrigeration appliance in a primary operating mode and a secondary operating mode (Pg. 7 lines 33-35, “a set of recommended operation mode”).
Referring to claim 24, Zhao further teaches a refrigeration appliance as set forth in claim 23, wherein in response to receiving the change control parameter command, the appliance controller is configured to switch from operating the refrigeration appliance in the primary operating mode to operating the refrigeration appliance in the secondary operating mode (Pg. 7 lines 28-31, “control module 240 configured to control parameters of the recommended running mode according to the selected control the refrigerator.”)
Claims 25-27, 29-43, and 46-49 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Broadbent, (US 2014/0216071 A) (hereinafter Broadbent).
Referring to claim 25, Broadbent teaches an ice maker comprising:
a freeze plate (¶ [0039], freeze plate);
a refrigeration system configured to cool the freeze plate (¶ [0039], refrigeration system 11);
a sump configured to hold water (¶ [0039], sump);
a water system configured to impart water into the sump, purge water from the sump, and distribute water from the sump onto the freeze plate such that ice forms on the freeze plate and unfrozen water flows off of the freeze plate back into the sump (¶ [0039], “Refrigeration system 11 may include compressor 12, a condenser (not shown), a thermal expansion device (not shown), an evaporator assembly (not shown), a freeze plate (not shown) thermally coupled to the evaporator assembly, and hot gas valve 24. Additionally, in certain embodiments that utilize a gaseous cooling medium (e.g., air) to provide condenser cooling, a condenser fan 15 may be positioned to blow the gaseous cooling medium across the condenser. Water system 50 may include water inlet valve 52, purge valve 56, water pump 62, a water distributor (not shown), a water line (not shown) connected to and in fluid communication with water pump 62 and the water distributor (not shown), and a sump (not shown) located below the freeze plate adapted to hold water.”); and
a controller configured to control the water system for conducting consecutive ice batch production cycles for making consecutive batches of ice (¶ [0040], “Controller 80 of ice maker 10 may include processor 82, transceiver 88, memory 90, and input/output (I/O) component 99...controller 80 to communicate with and/or control the various components of ice maker 10. In certain embodiments, for example controller 80 may receive inputs from a harvest sensor (not shown), an electrical power source (not shown), and/or a variety of sensors and/or switches including, but not limited to, pressure transducers, temperature sensors, acoustic sensors, etc. In various embodiments, based on those inputs for example, controller 80 may be able to control the operation of components of refrigeration system 11 including compressor 12, condenser fan 15, and hot gas valve 24. Controller 80 may also be able to control the operation of components of water system 50 including water inlet valve 52, purge valve 56 and water pump 62.”);
wherein the controller is configured to selectively operate the ice maker in a normal operating mode and a secondary operating mode (Examiner notes, para. [0112] and [0113] disclose changing settings with regards to purging water, where minimum and maximum limits can be set. Examiner recognized the normal ice making mode and the safe operating mode as the mode before making any change to the purge water settings and the mode after changing the purge water settings respectively.), and
wherein the secondary operating mode is selected from the group of secondary operating modes consisting of:
a safe operating mode in which the controller directs the water system to purge more water from the sump than in the normal mode; and
a high efficiency operating mode in which the controller is configured to at least one of (i) operate a compressor of the refrigeration system at a lower speed than in the normal operating mode, (ii) operate a fan of the refrigeration system at a lower speed than in the normal operating mode, (iii) operate a pump motor of the water system at a lower speed than in the normal operating mode, or (iv) purge less water from the sump than in the normal operating mode (Per para. [0112] and [0113], the quantity of water to be purged can be set.)
Referring to claim 26, Broadbent further teaches the ice maker as set forth in claim 25, wherein the secondary operating mode comprises the safe operating mode, wherein in the normal ice making mode, the controller is configured to periodically purge water from the sump until a water level in the sump reaches a normal purge water level, and in the safe ice making mode, the controller is configured to periodically purge water from the sump until the water level in the sump reaches a safe purge water level, the safe purge water level being less than the normal purge water level (Examiner notes, para. [0112] discloses changing settings with regards to purging water, where minimum and maximum limits can be set. Examiner recognized the normal ice making mode and the safe operating mode as the mode before making any change to the purge water settings and the mode after changing the purge water settings respectively.)
Referring to claim 27, Broadbent further teaches the ice maker as set forth in claim 26, wherein at the safe purge water level, the sump is substantially emptied of water (Per para. [0112] and [0113], user can set the purge water setting to any water level as he/she see fit, including at a level substantially emptied of water.)
Referring to claim 29, Broadbent further teaches the ice maker as set forth in claim 25, further comprising a network interface configured to provide communication between the controller and a remote asset management server, the network interface being configured to provide to the remote asset management server information about a location of the ice maker within a geographic area (¶ [0033], “transceiver 106 permits communication between portable electronic device 100 and ice maker 10, refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 via near field communication (NFC)…transceiver 106 may also permit portable electronic device 100 to connect to a remote server, to computers or servers 142, 144, 146, and/or 148, to the Internet, to ice maker 10, refrigerator 200, freezer 204, and/or other portable electronic devices 100 via one or more wide-area, local or other networks.”)
Referring to claim 30, Broadbent further teaches the ice maker as set forth in claim 19, wherein the network interface is configured to pass a change control parameter command from the remote asset management server to the controller, the change control parameter command being based on said information about the location of the ice maker (¶ [0033], “transceiver 106 permits communication between portable electronic device 100 and ice maker 10, refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 via near field communication (NFC)…transceiver 106 may also permit portable electronic device 100 to connect to a remote server, to computers or servers 142, 144, 146, and/or 148, to the Internet, to ice maker 10, refrigerator 200, freezer 204, and/or other portable electronic devices 100 via one or more wide-area, local or other networks.” ¶ [0049], “portable electronic device 100 may be adapted to control and/or set and/or modify the operating parameters of some or all of the components of refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 by sending signals to controller 80, wherein those signals can be received by controller 80 of refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 and wherein those signals cause controller 80 to carry out a function and/or operate one or more of the components of refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 according to the set and/or modified operating parameters.”)
Referring to claim 31, Broadbent further teaches the ice maker as set forth in claim 30, wherein the controller is configured to receive the change control parameter command from the network interface, and in response to receiving the change control parameter command, the controller is configured to change from the normal control parameter to the secondary control parameter (¶ [0049], “portable electronic device 100 may be adapted to control and/or set and/or modify the operating parameters of some or all of the components of refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 by sending signals to controller 80, wherein those signals can be received by controller 80 of refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 and wherein those signals cause controller 80 to carry out a function and/or operate one or more of the components of refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 according to the set and/or modified operating parameters.”)
Referring to claim 32, Broadbent teaches an asset management server for managing a plurality of refrigeration appliances distributed throughout a geographic area, the asset management server comprising:
a processor (¶ [0032], processor 104);
a memory (¶ [0032], memory 110) storing processor-executable instructions;
the processor being configured to execute the processor-executable instructions to:
establish a connection to each refrigeration appliance on a client-server network (¶ [0033], “transceiver 106 may also permit portable electronic device 100 to connect to a remote server, to computers or servers 142, 144, 146, and/or 148, to the Internet, to ice maker 10, refrigerator 200, freezer 204, and/or other portable electronic devices 100 via one or more wide-area, local or other networks.”);
identify that an event has occurred in a specified region of the geographic area (¶ [0033], “transceiver 106 permits communication between portable electronic device 100 and ice maker 10, refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 via near field communication (NFC).”);
determine a subset of the plurality of refrigeration appliances located within the specified region of the geographic area (¶ [0082], “Application 118 may write, save and/or upload a record of this location to memory 90 of ice maker 10, to memory 110 of portable electronic device 100, to a website, to computers or servers 142, 144, 146, and/or 148, to a remote server, and/or to any suitable location for storing a record of the location of ice maker 10.”); and
send a change control parameter command to each of the subset of refrigeration appliances over the client-server network, the change control parameter command being configured to cause a local controller of each of the subset of refrigeration appliances to change a control parameter for the respective refrigeration appliance (¶ [0049], “portable electronic device 100 may be adapted to control and/or set and/or modify the operating parameters of some or all of the components of refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 by sending signals to controller 80, wherein those signals can be received by controller 80 of refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 and wherein those signals cause controller 80 to carry out a function and/or operate one or more of the components of refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 according to the set and/or modified operating parameters.”)
Referring to claim 33, Broadbent further teaches the asset management server of claim 32, wherein the change control parameter command is configured to cause each local controller to change an operating mode of the respective refrigeration appliance (¶ [0023], “allow a user to use a portable electronic device to interact with the ice maker, refrigerator and/or freezer…to, controlling, installing, diagnosing, setting and/or modifying operating parameters, and for servicing, cleaning, etc.”)
Referring to claim 34, Broadbent further teaches the asset management server of claim 33, wherein the change control parameter command is configured to cause each controller to change from a normal mode to one of (i) a safe mode and (ii) a high efficiency mode (¶ [0072], “Manipulating Clean button 306 can cause a signal to be sent to controller 80 of ice maker 10 to initiate a clean and sanitize process to eliminate mineral, metals, biologics and/or other contaminants from ice maker 10 to keep it in a safe and efficient operating condition.”)
Referring to claim 35, Broadbent further teaches the asset management server of claim 33, wherein the plurality of refrigeration appliances are ice makers and the change control parameter command is configured to cause each controller to change from a normal ice making mode to a safe ice making mode in which the local controller causes the ice maker to purge a greater amount of water from the ice maker (¶ [0097], “Purge Water button 416 may be manipulated which can cause a signal to be sent to controller 80 of ice maker 10 to turn on water pump 62 and open purge valve 56 of ice maker to purge all water from ice maker 10.”)
Referring to claim 36, Broadbent further teaches the asset management server of claim 32, wherein the processor-executable instructions further configure the processor to receive operating data from each of the plurality of refrigeration appliances (¶ [0049], “portable electronic device 100 may be adapted to control and/or set and/or modify the operating parameters of some or all of the components of refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 by sending signals to controller 80, wherein those signals can be received by controller 80 of refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 and wherein those signals cause controller 80 to carry out a function and/or operate one or more of the components of refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 according to the set and/or modified operating parameters.”)
Referring to claim 37, Broadbent further teaches the asset management server of claim 36, wherein the processor-executable instructions further configure the processor to evaluate the operating data from each of the plurality of refrigeration appliances and identifying that the event has occurred by recognizing a localized change in the operating data in the specified region (¶ [0033], “transceiver 106 permits communication between portable electronic device 100 and ice maker 10, refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 via near field communication (NFC).”)
Referring to claim 38, Broadbent further teaches the asset management server of claim 32, wherein the change control parameter command is configured to cause each local controller to change from a normal operating mode to a high efficiency mode in which the local controller operates the refrigeration appliance with less energy consumption (¶ [0115], “option permits ice maker 10 to conserve energy during certain parts of the day”)
Referring to claim 39, Broadbent teaches an asset management server for managing a plurality of refrigeration appliances distributed throughout a geographic area, the asset management server comprising:
a processor (¶ [0032], processor 104);
a memory (¶ [0032], memory 110) storing processor-executable instructions;
the processor being configured to execute the processor-executable instructions to:
establish a connection between each refrigeration appliance and a remote asset management server on a client-server network (¶ [0033], “transceiver 106 may also permit portable electronic device 100 to connect to a remote server, to computers or servers 142, 144, 146, and/or 148, to the Internet, to ice maker 10, refrigerator 200, freezer 204, and/or other portable electronic devices 100 via one or more wide-area, local or other networks.”);
store in the memory a location of each of the refrigeration appliances in the geographic area (¶ [0082], “Application 118 may write, save and/or upload a record of this location to memory 90 of ice maker 10, to memory 110 of portable electronic device 100, to a website, to computers or servers 142, 144, 146, and/or 148, to a remote server, and/or to any suitable location for storing a record of the location of ice maker 10.”);
receive at the asset management server operating data from the plurality of refrigeration appliances (¶ [0033], “transceiver 106 permits communication between portable electronic device 100 and ice maker 10, refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 via near field communication (NFC).”); and
evaluate the operating data from each of the plurality of refrigeration appliances within the geographic area to determine whether a localized event has occurred in a region of the geographic area (¶ [0049], “portable electronic device 100 may be adapted to control and/or set and/or modify the operating parameters of some or all of the components of refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 by sending signals to controller 80, wherein those signals can be received by controller 80 of refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 and wherein those signals cause controller 80 to carry out a function and/or operate one or more of the components of refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 according to the set and/or modified operating parameters.”)
Referring to claim 40, Broadbent further teaches the asset management server of claim 39, wherein the refrigeration appliances are ice makers and the operating data includes a time parameter representative of time to complete a step of the ice batch production cycle, wherein the processor-executable instructions further configure the processor to determine that a localized event has occurred based on a change in time to complete the step of the ice batch production cycle among a subset of ice makers in a region of the geographic area (¶ [0138], “an indication of the cycle time to create a first batch of ice.”)
Referring to claim 41, Broadbent further teaches the asset management server of claim 39, wherein the operating data includes an energy consumption parameter representative of an amount of energy consumed by the respective refrigeration appliance, wherein the processor-executable instructions further configure the processor to determine that a localized event has occurred based on a change in the amount of energy consumed among a subset of refrigeration appliances in a region of the geographic area (¶ [0132], “any suitable location which may store the performance history information of ice maker 10. In certain embodiments, the performance history information displayed on Performance History screen 572 may include, but is not limited to, the amount of ice produced, the energy consumed, the weight of water used, or any other performance history information desired.”)
Referring to claim 42, Broadbent further teaches the asset management server of claim 39, wherein receiving operating data from the plurality of refrigeration appliances comprises periodically receiving a parameter value from each of the plurality of refrigeration appliances (¶ [0132], “performance history information may be displayed for any period of time”).
Referring to claim 43, Broadbent further teaches the asset management server of claim 42, wherein evaluating the operating data from each of the plurality of refrigeration appliances comprises storing the control parameter values as a time series and determining whether a localized event has occurred based on the time series (¶ [0132], fig. 37, “any suitable location which may store the performance history information of ice maker 10. In certain embodiments, the performance history information displayed on Performance History screen 572 may include, but is not limited to, the amount of ice produced, the energy consumed, the weight of water used, or any other performance history information desired.”)
Referring to claim 46, Broadbent further teaches the asset management server of claim 39, wherein the processor- executable instructions further configured the processor to assign each of the plurality of refrigeration appliances to one of a plurality of predefined regions of the geographic area based on the determined location of each of the refrigeration appliances in the geographic area (¶ [0082], “Application 118 may write, save and/or upload a record of this location to memory 90 of ice maker 10, to memory 110 of portable electronic device 100, to a website, to computers or servers 142, 144, 146, and/or 148, to a remote server, and/or to any suitable location for storing a record of the location of ice maker 10.”)
Referring to claim 47, Broadbent further teaches the asset management server of claim 46, wherein evaluating the operating data from each of the plurality of refrigeration appliances comprises grouping together the operating data from the refrigeration appliances in each of the predefined regions of interest (¶ [0033], “transceiver 106 permits communication between portable electronic device 100 and ice maker 10, refrigerator 200 and/or freezer 204 via near field communication (NFC).”)
Referring to claim 48, Broadbent further teaches the asset management server of claim 47, wherein evaluating the operating data from each of the plurality of refrigeration appliances comprises determining whether a parameter of the grouped operating data for each predefined region of interest crosses a predetermined threshold parameter (¶ [0133], “ice maker 10 is producing ice below the acceptable range, the bar may be red.”)
Referring to claim 49, Broadbent further teaches the asset management server of claim 39, wherein evaluating the operating data from each of the plurality of refrigeration appliances comprises identifying a hot spot region in which one or more control parameter values of the operating data from a subset of the plurality of refrigeration appliances in said hot spot region are inconsistent with said one or more parameter values of others of the plurality of refrigeration appliances outside said localized hot spot (¶ [0133], “ice maker 10 is producing ice below the desired range, but within an acceptable range, the bar may be yellow.”)
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 103
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 103 which forms the basis for all obviousness rejections set forth in this Office action:
A patent for a claimed invention may not be obtained, notwithstanding that the claimed invention is not identically disclosed as set forth in section 102 of this title, if the differences between the claimed invention and the prior art are such that the claimed invention as a whole would have been obvious before the effective filing date of the claimed invention to a person having ordinary skill in the art to which the claimed invention pertains. Patentability shall not be negated by the manner in which the invention was made.
Claim 28 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Broadbent as applied to claim 25 above, and in view of Manitowoc, (“Service Technician’s Handbook Q-Model Ice Machines”) (hereinafter Manitowoc).
Referring to claim 28, Broadbent further teaches the ice maker as set forth in claim 25, wherein the secondary operating mode comprises the safe operating mode, wherein as compared to the normal ice making mode (Para. [0112] and [0113] discloses adjusting purge water settings).
However, Broadbent does not explicitly teach purge water from the sump more frequently.
Manitowoc teaches purge water from the sump more frequently (Pg. 57 lines 23-30, “During the Harvest cycle water purge, the water inlet valve energizes (turns on) and de-energizes (turns off) strictly by time. The harvest water purge adjustment dial may be set at 15, 30 or 45 seconds.”)
Broadbent and Manitowoc are analogous art to the claimed invention because they are concerning with interface for controlling refrigeration appliance (i.e., same field of endeavor).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention having Broadbent and Manitowoc before them to modify the method of controlling appliance using a portable electronic device of Broadbent to incorporate the function of adjusting purge frequency by Manitowoc. One of ordinary skill in the art would have combined the elements as claimed by known methods as disclosed by Manitowoc (Pg. 57), because the function of adjusting purge frequency does not depend on the method of controlling appliance using a portable electronic device. That is the function of adjusting purge frequency performs the same function independent on which interface it is incorporated onto, and therefore, the result of the combination would have been predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art. The motivation to combine would have been to improve customizability of the device by allowing more adjustments.
Claims 44 and 45 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 103 as being unpatentable over Broadbent as applied to claim 43 above, and in view of Kim et al., (US 2019/0264976 A1) (hereinafter Kim).
Referring to claim 44, Broadbent further teaches the asset management server of claim 43, wherein determining whether a localized event (¶ [0134] and [0142]). However, Broadbent does not explicitly teach has occurred based on the time series comprises periodically calculating a moving average of the time series and determining when the moving average is outside of a normal range for the control parameter value.
Kim teaches has occurred based on the time series comprises periodically calculating a moving average of the time series and determining when the moving average is outside of a normal range for the control parameter value (¶ [0070], “using average temperature and humidity in a region where the refrigerator is located, and may generate context awareness operating condition information by using a result of determination.”)
Broadbent and Kim are analogous art to the claimed invention because they are concerning with interface for controlling refrigeration appliance (i.e., same field of endeavor).
It would have been obvious to one of ordinary skill in the art before the effective filing date of the claimed invention having Broadbent and Kim before them to modify the method of controlling appliance using a portable electronic device of Broadbent to incorporate the function of calculating average by Kim. One of ordinary skill in the art would have combined the elements as claimed by known methods as disclosed by Kim (¶ [0035]-[0072]), because the function of calculating average does not depend on the method of controlling appliance using a portable electronic device. That is the function of calculating average performs the same function independent on which interface it is incorporated onto, and therefore, the result of the combination would have been predictable to one of ordinary skill in the art. The motivation to combine would have been to improve operation by account for seasonal changes as suggested by Kim (¶ [0044]).
Referring to claim 45, Broadbent teaches the asset management server of claim 44. However, Broadbent does not explicitly teach determine the normal range for the control parameter value based on a long term average of the time series.
Kim further teaches determine the normal range for the control parameter value based on a long term average of the time series (¶ [0070], “using average temperature and humidity in a region where the refrigerator is located, and may generate context awareness operating condition information by using a result of determination.”)
Conclusion
The prior art made of record and not relied upon is considered pertinent to applicant’s disclosure.
US 2015/0048679 (Kotowski) – discloses systems and methods for controlling small grids of appliances.
US 2015/0192338 (Knatt) – discloses ice maker with variable-operating point components.
US 2018/0313594 (Park) – discloses refrigerator with ice making function that can communicate with a server over a network.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to MONG-SHUNE CHUNG whose telephone number is (571) 270-5817. The examiner can normally be reached on M-F (9-5) EST.
If attempts to reach the examiner by telephone are unsuccessful, the examiner’s supervisor, Scott Baderman, can be reached at telephone number 571-272-3644. The fax phone number for the organization where this application or proceeding is assigned is 571-273-8300.
Information regarding the status of an application may be obtained from Patent Center and the Private Patent Application Information Retrieval (PAIR) system. Status information for published applications may be obtained from Patent Center or Private PAIR. Status information for unpublished applications is available through Patent Center and Private PAIR for authorized users only. Should you have questions about access to the Private PAIR system, contact the Electronic Business Center (EBC) at 866-217-9197 (toll-free).
Examiner interviews are available via telephone, in-person, and video conferencing using a USPTO supplied web-based collaboration tool. To schedule an interview, applicant is encouraged to use the USPTO Automated Interview Request (AIR) Form at https://www.uspto.gov/patents/uspto-automated- interview-request-air-form.
/MONG-SHUNE CHUNG/
Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2118
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